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This year’s ultimate holiday gift guide for the gamers and tech junkies on your shopping list is more than half-hearted recommendations based on press releases and marketing hype. Each product in the following list has been personally evaluated, culled from a year’s worth of product reviews and hands-on testing. In most cases, these gift ideas have made the uncommon jump from “test it and forget it” to being crucial components in my everyday repertoire of gadgets.

For that reason, you won’t find glamorous high-resolution shots from the manufacturer or PR teams. Instead, I’ve chosen to photograph them in their natural environment: My home office.

Part 1 of this gift guide rounds up five essentials that resist categorization, but are likely perfect for anyone on your list who is immersed in technology or video games.

Parts 2 and 3 (publishing in the near future) will drill down into recommendations for the PC, laptop, and tablet gamers on your shopping list.

Prices are current at time of publication. Best of all, you won't need to leave your computer to order and ship any of these products.

Gunnar Technology Eyewear

Switching between smartphones, multiple monitors and televisions with different display qualities and varying degrees of brightness can be murder on your eyes. The drive behind Gunnar’s Technology Eyewear is to reduce tension headaches, decrease strain, and generally improve endurance for gamers or anyone tasked with using a computer all day.

Pictured: Gunnar Vinyl Onyx

After wearing a pair of Gunnar Optiks (this Onyx Vinyl model) for 3 months, I can enthusiastically validate those claims. My eyes seldom dry up, glare is noticeably reduced, and onscreen text appears easier to read. This leads to less tension, less squinting, less headaches, and a vastly improved overall experience while working or playing.

You caught me: This is a canned product shot, because mine disappear quickly!

Foosh Caffeinated Mints

Putting aside the “coffee as a ritual” argument, what happens when you don’t have time to consume your morning cup of java or your 36 ounces of Pepsi? Just pop a Foosh mint. Yes, these tiny morsels pack 100mg of caffeine. To put this in perspective, a can of Mountain Dew contains 45mg of caffeine, and a Starbucks espresso shot delivers 75mg of caffeine.

Foosh mints have prevented those stabbing caffeine withdrawal headaches on multiple occasions, especially industry events like CES or E3. Flavor wise, they straddle a line between Altoids and Certs. These tiny wonders may be inexpensive, but they’re invaluable to fellow caffeine addicts.

Would you like 2000GB of storage and effortless home networking with that Wireless N router? That’s exactly what Western Digital’s MyNet N900 Central delivers, and it’s a godsend for anyone with a highly connected home.

The router and network storage combo functions as a reliable internet gateway, media server, and cloud storage solution. Installing Western Digital’s “WD 2go” app on iOS or Android gives owners access to any of their files, anywhere, even via a 3G connection.

It’s replaced an old Linksys router in my home, and its usefulness can’t be overstated. Whether I’m accessing files on a Smart TV, android tablet, iPad, desktop PC, or Xbox 360, I have no-hassle streaming and downloading with the N900 Central as my media hub.